Bachmann Tax Day rally draws sparse crowd

Updated 3:40 pm, Monday, May 2, 2011

Michele Bachmann's much anticipated Tax Day rally on Monday was a "dud" that drew a paltry 300 people in Columbia, S.C., according to reports.

Bachmann met privately with South Carolina GOP Gov. Nikki Haley ahead of her speech to the small crowd in the Palmetto state's capital.

The Minnesota congressman rallied the tea party supporters with a call to block Washington from raising the debt ceiling and attacked Barack Obama for being too close to Wall Street.

She told reporters after the rally that while she has yet to make an announcement on a run for president, she is looking forward to the opportunity to take on Obama, the Associated Press reported.

The rally though is attracting nearly as much attention for the sparse attendance as it did for Bachmann's remarks.

Will Folks, a well-read blogger in South Carolina political circles, termed the rally as a "dud" in a post Monday afternoon.

"Politicians, political operatives and members of the media came close to outnumbering attendees at a much-hyped Columbia, S.C. Tea Party rally starring U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann and S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley on Monday," Folks wrote.

"Only 300 people (including a horde of Palmetto political operatives) attended the event in downtown Columbia, S.C. - which is a generous estimate in our book. That attendance figure - confirmed by other media outlets - amounts to less than one-tenth the size of multiple crowds that have gathered at the S.C. State House in recent years in support of parental choice."